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Reaction Time

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Title

Reaction Time

Problem Scenario

I might not find the right ages of people to do my experiment.

Broad Question

Does age affect reaction time?

Specific Question

Does the age of a person affect the time they will react to something?

Hypothesis

I believe that the younger ages (8 and 13) Will react the fastest. (25 and 40) will react the slowest. And age 16 will react fast.

Graph of Hypothesis

alal12-2-hypothesis.png.png



Variables

Independent Variable: AGE

Dependent Variable: Ruler stick


Variables That Need To Be Controlled: How far i drop the meter stick.


Vocabulary List That Needs Explanation

NONE

General Plan

I will get a ruler stick, and get a 8 year old, a 13 year old, a 16 year olds, a 25 year old, and a 40 year old and i will get a ruler stick placing the zero right above their thumb and with no warning drop it and ask the person catching it to catch right when they notice it falling. I will then record the number on the meter stick they caught it. I will do this 5 times per person.

Potential Problems And Solution

1. Problem- I might not have enough people
Solution- I will go to the elementary school
2. Problem- I might get my graphing wrong
Solution- Check twice on everything i do
3. Problem- i might not get all of my information in time for the science fair
Solution- i will get all of m work done early so that i dont have to worry about anything

Safety Or EnvironmentalConcerns

I will have to make sure that the ruler stick i use is new, clean and has no sharp edges so that when dropping the ruler stick drops nobody will get any cuts on their hands.

Experimental Design

Controlled, manipulated experiment

What is your experimental unit?

I will be measuring the time a person will react to an object

Number Of Trials:

I will do each age 5 times

Number Of Subjects In Each trial:

In my experiment there will be 5 subjects. Ages 8, 13, 16, 25, 40

When data will be collected

All of my data will be collected by 2/28/13

Where will data be collected?:

All of my data will be collected at my house.

Sources and Budget Table

Item
 Number needed
 Where I will get this
 Cost
Ruler stick
 One
 At home
 $0.00
Different Aged people
 Five
 At home and school
 $0.00
Poster Board
 One
 Mr. Biche
 $5.00
























Detailed Procedure

1. I will get my Ruler
2 .I will get my notebook ( I will be recording in it )
3. I will get 5 people ages 8, 13, 16, 25, 40
4. I will place the Ruler stick right above their thumb starting at zero.
5. I will repeat steps 1-4 for all of the other ages
6. I will buy a poster board from Mr. Biche
7. I will type and print out all of my recorded data
8. I will take all of my printed data and paste it on my poster board
9. I will upload all of my data and pictures to my wiki

Diagram


Photo List

1.Age 8 doing experiment
2. Age 13 doing experiment
3. Age 16 doing experiment
4. Age 25 doing experiment
5. Age 40 doing experiment

Time Line

Procedure timeline photo list complete 2/1
Begin experiments no later than 2/4
Experiments done 3/1
Analysis 3/7
Discussion/background
wiki complete 3/15
posters complete 3/22

Data Table

Test
 Age
 Trial 1
 Trial 2
 Trial 3
 Trial 4
 Trial 5
 Average score
Ruler stick drop test
 8






13






16






25






40






Data Analysis

All Raw Data

Test
 Age
 Trial 1
 Trial 2
 Trial 3
 Trial 4
 Trial 5
 Average score
Ruler drop test
 8
 15.3(cm)
 15.1(cm)
 14.2(cm)
 14.0(cm)
 15.4(cm)
 11.74

13
 15.7(cm)
 15.4(cm)
 14.6(cm)
 13.9(cm)
 12.6(cm)
 14.4

16
 13.9(cm)
 13.7(cm)
 13.4(cm)
 12.5(cm)
 12.1(cm)
 11.12

25
 11.9(cm)
 12.2(cm)
 11.6(cm)
 11.8(cm)
 11.5(cm)
 11.8

40
 11.1(cm)
 11.4(cm)
 11.5(cm)
 11.1(cm)
 10.9(cm)
 11.2

Graphs




Photos


Results

In my experiment I tested how fast it would take for a person to react to something. I did this by doing the ruler stick drop test.I got 5 ages for my experiment, 8, 13, 16, 25, and 40. I had each of the ages place there arm on the edge of a steady table and then i put the ruler stick right above their thumb starting at zero.Then i dropped the ruler stick with no warning and recorded the time it was caught.I was very suprised when i found out the younger kids reacted slower than the adults.Every age got better each trial though so i think if they had practiced before there scores would have been alot better.

Conclusion

.In my hypothesis I predicted that younger people would react faster and older people would react slower but i was wrong! During my experiment it seemed as if the younger kids (Ages 8, 13, and 16) were distracted or not very focused and it showed in their scores. But ages 25 and 40 seemed very focused and they got excellent scores. The younger ages got better after multiple times but their scores got nowhere close to the adults scores.

Discussion

Distraction

Benefit to Community and/or Science



Background Research



References

Abstract

In my experiment I tested how fast it would take for a person to react to something. I did this by doing the ruler stick drop test.I got 5 ages for my experiment, 8, 13, 16, 25, and 40. I had each of the ages place there arm on the edge of a steady table and then i put the ruler stick right above their thumb starting at zero.Then i dropped the ruler stick with no warning and recorded the time it was caught.